Video 7:17
Opposition makes small target as SA government aims to convince voters

Alex MannUpdated
Thu 13 Mar 2014, 1:35 PM AEDT

High unemployment and economic challenges mean Premier Jay Weatherill is struggling to convince South Australian voters his party deserves a fourth term while Opposition Leader Steven Marshall makes himself a small target and prepares to grab the top job in Adelaide.

Transcript

SARAH FERGUSON, PRESENTER: Just days out from elections in South Australia and Tasmania, Labor governments in both states look set to be swept from power. In SA, 12 years of Labor rule appears certain to come to an end this weekend. Unemployment in the state is at its highest rate in more than a decade, made worse by the demise of Holden, and Premier Jay Weatherill is struggling to convince voters his party deserves a fourth term. Opposition Leader Steven Marshall has been making himself a small target as he gets ready to take the top job in Adelaide, as Alex Mann reports.

ALEX MANN, REPORTER: It's 9 am, just days from the end of the campaign, as Labor's senior players gather for their daily strategy meeting.

At this election, they face a tough ask: how to convince a struggling electorate that's had 12 years of Labor to give them another go.

Mr Weatherill's first appearance today is at this police station in the marginal seat of Colton. They plan to rebuild it if re-elected.

It's the third time he's visited this electorate during the campaign.

This tactic worked well for Labor in 2010. At the last election, the party lost the two-party preferred vote, but won government by holding on to a number of key marginals like this one. Labor holds it by just 3.6 per cent.

CLEM MACINTYRE, POLITICAL ANALYST: Labor's performance in the critical marginal seats was exemplary and they were able to hold on to government because of that. The Liberals know that they need to focus their attention much more on those critical seats.

ALEX MANN: Are you confident that you'll be able to hold on to them this time around?

JAY WEATHERILL, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN PREMIER: I'm confident we've got some great local members that are just working as hard as I've ever seen candidates work in an election.

ALEX MANN: This is the time of year South Australians call Mad March, when a world music showcase, arts festivals and V8 Supercars collide.

But the city-wide buzz does little to hide the grim reality of a state in dire economic straights.

ALEXANDER DOWNER, FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER: I think we may as well as South Australians face up to that and be realistic about that. We love SA, we love our capital city, Adelaide, but, gee, we're not going too well.

ALEX MANN: Kon Dielos and his family know the state's woes too well.

KON DIELOS: Financially, as a (inaudible), a one-income family, the wife and three kids, it is hard, it is very hard, but I know that there's a pay cheque there every week.

ALEX MANN: But that pay cheque will stop when Holden leaves and the auto parts manufacturer he works for goes under. Kon Dielos can't afford to wait until then.

KON DIELOS: I'm hoping to get my certificate in real estate sales and that would allow me to apply to get my licence and then become a successful agent, I hope.

ALEX MANN: Unemployment in SA is at its highest level in 14 years.

CLEM MACINTYRE: There's no question that the South Australian economy's at a low ebb at the moment. The debate between the leaders is how it's best sustained and how it's rebuilt.

ALEX MANN: A key element of the debate is which party is best placed to secure funding from Canberra to drag the state out of the doldrums.

JAY WEATHERILL: What we see with you is when we are attacked by the federal Liberal government, you sit there essentially mute, making excuses for Tony Abbott when he hacks into us.

STEVEN MARSHALL, SA OPPOSITION LEADER: I'm not going to jump on a plane, fly to Canberra, beat my chest and attack the Federal Government. I'm going to work with the Federal Government. Why? Because they've got a big wallet in Canberra. It's much bigger than ours and we need those Defence contracts to come to SA. We need help.

ALEX MANN: Alexander Downer is the president of the South Australian Liberal Party and a member of the last federal government to deal with a Liberal South Australian premier.

ALEXANDER DOWNER: What the two leaders have to do in the campaign is persuade the voters that if we were to elect one or the other, something would change. Part of that change is: what can they do to leverage their relationship with the Federal Government? And obviously this gives - to be honest, I mean, this gives Steven Marshall a very substantial advantage.

JAY WEATHERILL: In Canberra, there's no automatic right for a small state to be heard. Now I don't think Steven Marshall understands that. He's never had to do it and I don't think he understands how it actually has to happen.

ALEX MANN: Opposition Leader and first-term MP Steven Marshall is a political cleanskin. He's racing against the clock for recognition from voters who've had just one year to get to know him as leader.

CLEM MACINTYRE: A lot of the strategy of last year was about him leading from the front and the focus was on him making announcements.

ALEX MANN: But Mr Marshall has faced criticism for running a small target strategy and not facing journalists after his campaign launch.

Are you worried that this small target strategy might backfire in the leadup to an election for a first-term MP that is struggling for recognition with voters?

STEVEN MARSHALL: Well I just - I make this point: that I've been the leader I think 400 days today and I've been very available to the media. I think I've done a press conference on virtually every day, or almost every day of the entire campaign, probably almost every day of the year. So I've been more than available for the media as far as I'm concerned.

CLEM MACINTYRE: A lot of voters still don't really know who he is. He is a first-term MP, he's still, in many senses, learning the ropes and he's not been thrown off by a fairly seasoned and experienced alternative premier in Jay Weatherill.

ALEX MANN: And that might be enough to get the Liberals over the line.

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Because the public have decided: "12 years, one party, one government in power all that time. The alternative looks OK. Let's make a change and see what happens."